S.B. 266, An Act Requiring Polling Places at Institutions of Higher Education

The right to vote is a fundamental part of America’s democracy, and the government should work to ensure that everyone has access to the ballot box. As an organization that defends the right to vote and believes that enfranchisement is an incredibly important way for people to participate in our society, the ACLU-CT supports this bill, which would require polling places at higher education institutions in the state. Allowing people to vote on college and university campuses would provide more people with the opportunity to vote. Additional polling locations in the state would alleviate the congestion seen at our polling places. In November 2018, voters experienced incredibly long wait times — up to 4 hours — at New Haven polling locations. Many of these voters were Yale University students. University of Connecticut students experienced similar issues in Mansfield. Having a polling place on these campuses could have given more New Haven and Mansfield residents the opportunity to register to vote and vote in the election.